English Science and Literature club🤓✍️📖

298.

November 25, 2024 (14269)
Descartes is mostly famous for introducing the mind-body problem and creating what is now called “Cartesian Dualism”. Contemporary philosophers, like John Searle, who take Descartes out of historical and political context and blame him for all “philosophical disasters” that happened in the following centuries, usually miss an important lesson of an epic scale. Every student of psychopolitics may quickly notice that one of the main controversies shaping Descartes’ mind is which language to use for thinking. He must have been aware that the power of his French was not equal to the power of his Latin. Viewing himself as “the greatest thinker of all time” and struggling to destroy the influence of Aristotle, who for centuries held this title, Descartes fought for power over two languages. He fooled himself into believing that he “devoted his life to the cultivation of his reason”, whereas, in fact, he cultivated French. Whether he was aware that the days of Latin’s hegemony were numbered is uncertain. Whether he consciously tried to undermine this hegemony is also hard to tell. It’s important to keep in mind that in his time, Latin was almost as powerful as English was in the beginning of the 21st century, and even after the condemnation of Galileo, it was reasonable to believe that Latin’s future is bright and glorious.
To better understand Descartes, it’s necessary to examine the four periods of the Thirty Years’ War. Roughly speaking, the first period took place in Prague and was over at the Battle of White Mountain, at which Descartes himself was present. Catholics defeated Protestants. Then, in 1625, Denmark got involved in the conflict on the Protestants’ side, and military operations moved to the north. In 1630, Sweden invaded Germany to defend the Protestant cause. Finally, in 1635, France, which previously supported Sweden economically, engaged in the war. Although France was officially a Catholic state, it also fought on the Protestants’ side, being guided by strategic interests related to the balance of power. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia brought an end to this war, severely weakening the power of Latin and marking the ascendancy of French, German and other languages in psychopolitics.

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5 viewsVladimir Svetashev, Nov 25, 2024 at 11:30

298.

November 25, 2024 (14269)
Descartes is mostly famous for introducing the mind-body problem and creating what is now called “Cartesian Dualism”. Contemporary philosophers, like John Searle, who take Descartes out of historical and political context and blame him for all “philosophical disasters” that happened in the following centuries, usually miss an important lesson of an epic scale. Every student of psychopolitics may quickly notice that one of the main controversies shaping Descartes’ mind is which language to use for thinking. He must have been aware that the power of his French was not equal to the power of his Latin. Viewing himself as “the greatest thinker of all time” and struggling to destroy the influence of Aristotle, who for centuries held this title, Descartes fought for power over two languages. He fooled himself into believing that he “devoted his life to the cultivation of his reason”, whereas, in fact, he cultivated French. Whether he was aware that the days of Latin’s hegemony were numbered is uncertain. Whether he consciously tried to undermine this hegemony is also hard to tell. It’s important to keep in mind that in his time, Latin was almost as powerful as English was in the beginning of the 21st century, and even after the condemnation of Galileo, it was reasonable to believe that Latin’s future is bright and glorious.
To better understand Descartes, it’s necessary to examine the four periods of the Thirty Years’ War. Roughly speaking, the first period took place in Prague and was over at the Battle of White Mountain, at which Descartes himself was present. Catholics defeated Protestants. Then, in 1625, Denmark got involved in the conflict on the Protestants’ side, and military operations moved to the north. In 1630, Sweden invaded Germany to defend the Protestant cause. Finally, in 1635, France, which previously supported Sweden economically, engaged in the war. Although France was officially a Catholic state, it also fought on the Protestants’ side, being guided by strategic interests related to the balance of power. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia brought an end to this war, severely weakening the power of Latin and marking the ascendancy of French, German and other languages in psychopolitics.

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